Melting the Heart
by CountD
Summary: Souls are not showing up in Meifu, even though the body of the souls has physically died. Tsuzuki and Hisoka are assigned to investigate this. However, Tsuzuki also wants to use this time to open up Hisoka's heart a little...^_- Chapter 6 added!
1. Melting his Heart

Melting the Heart  
  
Note: The setting of the story starts out in a house which Tsuzuki and Hisoka share. I'm not exactly for sure of their living quarters in Yami no Matsuei (I'm only on volume 2 ^^;;) so if this incorrect, just imagine it as a slightly alternated universe. If nothing is said of their living quarters in the manga, then just think of this as a prose on that ^^; Also, I don't own Yami no Matsuei. So the story is disclaimed.  
  
Muraki had murdered Hisoka because of what he had saw that night under the crimson moon. Because Muraki had taken a fancy to Hisoka, he put a curse on him, which would kill him slowly. Over a period of three years, Hisoka suffered the curse before finally dying.  
  
Hisoka had been shunned by his parents because he was an empath. They treated him coldly and worked to keep him out of their sight. Hisoka would pick up their cruel emotions, which would then synchronize with his heart and cause him near unbearable emotional pain. Because of this pain, Hisoka eventually closed off his heart, never letting anyone ever get close to it again.  
  
Tsuzuki pondered these thoughts. It pained him that Hisoka had gone through so much suffering. It pained him that Hisoka had been treated so cruelly for just being an empath, that he was shunned and that the last three years of his life were spent dying slowly under a curse.  
  
Contrary to popular belief, Tsuzuki was capable of serious thinking. He walked upstairs to Hisoka's room. The door was open so he just walked in. Hisoka was propped up in bed reading. Well it appeared he was reading. As Tsuzuki drew closer to him, he learned that Hisoka was actually asleep. A million thoughts could have ran through Tsuzuki's head at that moment concerning how peaceful and beautiful Hisoka looked while sleeping, but Tsuzuki blocked them. Hisoka could read thoughts even while sleeping, and Tsuzuki didn't want these thoughts read.yet.  
  
Tsuzuki made his way out of the room and shut the door behind him. He walked back downstairs and into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. He went into the living room and turned the television on. He sat there watching a music program for a while.  
  
Hisoka woke up and he felt surprisingly cozy in his room. The way the sun poured in, it filled the room with a very homey glow. Hisoka sank back into the pillows he had used to prop himself up with a sigh. As soon as he had let the silence of the room sink in, he heard the faint, up-beat song of popular idol. 'Tsuzuki is addicted to those music shows' Hisoka thought to himself, a slight smile playing across his face.  
  
Hisoka rose off of his bed and made his way downstairs to where Tsuzuki was. "You're addicted to those idols aren't you?" Hisoka commented in his usual cool, yet soft-spoken, manner.  
  
Tsuzuki's tail (figuratively speaking) wagged as he recognized Hisoka's voice. "Uh huh!" Tsuzuki replied enthusiastically, "I love to watch them sing, and be cute, and jump around! I love it!"  
  
Hisoka just nodded his head and walked to the kitchen to get a drink. He came back to see Tsuzuki still entranced by the current idol performing an extremely sugary song. Hisoka sat down in a large chair drink and observed Tsuzuki in his idol-induced happiness. Tsuzuki sitting there like a puppy watching food.  
  
Hisoka picked up the nearby remote along with the current book he was reading. He turned the volume down and opened his book to where he had left off. The protagonist of the book was about to find out exactly who the serial killer was and do it in a very suave manner. Just then the phone rang. Hisoka put down his book and went to answer it while Tsuzuki still watched television.  
  
"Hello," Hisoka answered.  
  
"This is Konoe, Hisoka. You and Tsuzuki need to come to headquarters. There is a new assignment."  
  
"Yes, sir," Hisoka answered, very business-like, and then hung up the phone.  
  
Hisoka turned to Tsuzuki, "Konoe says we need to come into headquarters. There is a new assignment."  
  
"Ahh," Tsuzuki whined, "they were about to show the number one song for this week."  
  
"Tsuzuki quit acting like a child. We have a job that we have to do. Show some seriousness."  
  
"I was only trying to lighten the mood." Tsuzuki said, a bit taken aback.  
  
The both went to go get their shoes on, Tsuzuki a bit chastened, and left for headquarters. 


	2. The Assignment

Melting the Heart Chapter 2  
  
Disclaimer: The great Yami no Matsuei universe is not mine. I don't own it. It is *bababum* disclaimed  
  
Hisoka and Tsuzuki made their way into headquarters. Konoe greeted them upon their arrival and then began briefing them.  
  
"You see," he began, "people are showing up on the list of the dead, and indeed, they are physically dead. However, their souls are not being received for judgement. You and Hisoka have been assigned to investigate this. You will be going to Fukuoka, the area where this has been occurring. The department has set you both up with a cover at Kyushu University. Tsuzuki, you will be a doctor and Hisoka will be disguised as your assistant. We have rented a small apartment near the university for you. FINISH this assignment in a month. That's as much time as the apartment was rented for due to our department's budget."  
  
"Understood," Hisoka replied very coolly.  
  
"Okay chief! Me and Hisoka have this under control!" Tsuzuki said, stressing the last two words.  
  
"I hope you can manage," Konoe said, speaking more to Tsuzuki than Hisoka, "here's directions to your apartment and how to get to the university from there," Konoe handed Hisoka the papers, trusting him more with them than Tsuzuki.  
  
With that taken care of, Tsuzuki and Hisoka left. Konoe silently wondered how Tsuzuki could be such a powerful Shinigami, yet be totally brainless at times. It was just one of those confusing, nonsensical things life throws at you he decided; however, it really bothered him. One might even say it irked him. Konoe gave up thinking on it and walked back to his desk to begin sorting through the other cases that were waiting to be assigned.  
  
"We're almost there," Hisoka said to Tsuzuki, who was eating a popsicle.  
  
"Really?" Tsuzuki said with his mouth full, "I hope it's a decent place." Tsuzuki remembered all too vividly some of the places he had had to live in on assignments because the department's budget didn't allow for anything better.  
  
"There it is," Hisoka pointed out. It was an okay building, neither stylish nor run-down. Tsuzuki wondered if the department had received some extra money. It wasn't quite as bad as he had expected.  
  
They made their way up to the apartment, which was on the fifth floor, and walked in. This was where the budget got Tsuzuki. "It ALWAYS happens," he sobbed.  
  
The apartment was nice, spacious but hardly furnished. It had a bed and a table with two chairs. They looked in the cupboard and found a few pots for cooking and two glasses and some paper plates. "This is so awful, Hisoka! There is no t.v.! How will I watch my music shows with all the pretty idols in them?! Oh the humanity."  
  
"It is really bare, isn't it," Hisoka said, a bit taken aback himself. He didn't think even college kids lived in this bare of surroundings.  
  
Hisoka sighed and laid his stuff down on the bed, "Guess we'll have to make due."  
  
Hisoka put his hands in his pockets and found the money Konoe had included with the instructions on how to get to the apartment. It was their "grocery allowance."  
  
"I'm gonna go out and pick up some ramen and rice for dinner along with some tea," Hisoka called as he walked out the door, not giving Tsuzuki the chance to follow. He feared that if Tsuzuki came along he'd waste all the money on cakes and such.  
  
The apartment was eerily silent with Hisoka gone. It wasn't that Hisoka caused noise, he just acted as someone Tsuzuki could direct noise to since he wasn't in the habit of talking to himself. 'Well we have a month to figure this case out' Tsuzuki pondered to himself, 'maybe I can also get Hisoka to open himself up a little more. I know how he dyed, but just because I know that doesn't bring me any closer to him. I need to interact with him. Get to really know him. I want him to feel he can trust me.'  
  
About 15 minutes later, Hisoka came through the door with a bag containing 5 packages of ramen noodles, a large bag of rice, and a medium size bag of green tea. "Welcome back," a cheerful Tsuzuki greeted him, as he sat the groceries on the kitchen counter.  
  
"Hello Tsuzuki," he greeted back.  
  
Hisoka removed the groceries from the bag. He got the pots out of the cabinet and washed the rice and set it aside to sit. Hisoka wasn't going to bother cooking the ramen until the rice was ready to be cooked; it would just get cold.  
  
Tsuzuki now noticed that Hisoka was a bit.different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but somehow, Hisoka had a different presence to him. Like something had given him a bit of a shake-up. Tsuzuki threw around the idea in his head of asking Hisoka what was wrong. He decided he would. He wasn't going to get any closer to Hisoka by just sitting in silence.  
  
"Are you okay, Hisoka," Tsuzuki began, "you seem different. Did something happen to you while you were out shopping?"  
  
Hisoka paused. Something had happened. He wasn't for sure about sharing it with Tsuzuki just yet though. It was hard to open his heart, although he sensed Tsuzuki's emotions were nothing but love, concern, and even a desire to.protect.  
  
Hisoka hesitated. "I.saw someone." he said slowly. 


	3. Muraki's Presence

Melting the Heart Chapter 3  
  
a.n.: Here's chapter 3 ^^v I also want to thank everyone who reviewed the first two chapters of this story. I will try to keep it going as best as I can ^_^ Although school starts again tomorrow, and the place seems to suck out all of my creativity so I may not get good chances to write until the weekend. Gomen nasai.  
  
Disclaimed: Tsuzuki, Hisoka, Yami no Matsuei etc belong to all the people that have their name stamped on them ^^; I disclaim them.  
  
"Who was it you saw," Tsuzuki asked with concern in his voice.  
  
"I'm pretty sure it was.," Hisoka hesitated again, ".Muraki."  
  
Tsuzuki felt a sort of sadness creep over him. Such a sighting, even though it was only a sighting, had obviously disturbed Hisoka. Knowing Muraki was around would disturb anyone that knew his true nature though. The way he killed people by draining their life energy to make himself stronger. It disgusted Tsuzuki.  
  
"Are you sure it was him," he asked.  
  
"Quite sure. When he walked by, I felt this sadness, malice.and emptiness. And even when he was gone, it still lingered."  
  
Tsuzuki felt like holding Hisoka as one would hold a child and telling him everything would be okay. Acourse, such a thing would probably be more offensive or disturbing to Hisoka than comforting; so, Tsuzuki just sat in one of the chairs, pondering over Muraki's appearance in Fukuoka.  
  
"Do you think," Tsuzuki began, "that Muraki could be the one behind the souls disappearing? It seems to be a coincidence that souls are disappearing from Fukuoka and then you coming across Muraki, but usually wherever there is Muraki there is trouble."  
  
"True," Hisoka commented, "but how do we exactly begin going about this? Souls have disappeared, but where do we look for them at? Would they be floating around or trapped in something? It's hard to find a point to begin at."  
  
"I honestly don't know. Konoe just said that souls weren't appearing for judgment. We don't really have anything besides that to go on," Tsuzuki said, troubled now by the questions Hisoka had raised. He had not realized earlier the potential difficulty of this assignment.  
  
Hisoka's timer on his watch went off. The rice was done soaking. He turned on the stove and set the rice on one of the burners and set his watch for twenty minutes.  
  
"Should we get a list of the victims and find out where they're buried? Maybe their souls have just lingered around their grave or something," Tsuzuki suggested.  
  
Hisoka turned around from the stove, "Konoe gave us a list of the victims. The list doesn't say where they were buried, although all were students of Kyushu University."  
  
"Then there is are starting point," Tsuzuki exclaimed feeling very smart and proud of his deduction.  
  
"Yeah.but do you really think souls would linger around a university?"  
  
Tsuzuki thought for a moment, ".Souls could hang around anywhere. It's just a matter of locating them. It's not totally out of the question - nothing is. We just need to have be extra sensitive tomorrow when we are there. See if we can sense any lingering souls," Tsuzuki beamed with pride at that last statement. He was feeling extremely smart; however, that is not to say Tsuzuki isn't smart, it's just to say he doesn't always.or usually doesn't show it.  
  
Hisoka picked up the pride emanating from Tsuzuki, "Don't go on talking like you've solved the case yet," he commented, crushing Tsuzuki's prideful outburst.  
  
"You're so mean," Tsuzuki retaliated back sounding very childish.  
  
They both sat there in silence for a while. Hisoka finally got up and began boiling the water for the ramen. The rice had about three more minutes before it would be done, and it would take about that long to cook the ramen. Tsuzuki just sat at the table, staring down at nothing.  
  
  
  
"Mmmmm that was GOOD, Hisoka," Tsuzuki complimented while finishing his third helping of rice.  
  
"Thanks," Hisoka firmly, yet quietly, replied while finishing his bowl of rice as well. Tsuzuki's happiness over such a small, simple meal kind of touched him in an odd sort of way.  
  
When they had both finished, Tsuzuki due to the fact that there was no more food, and the dishes were done, they just sat down. There was no television, no radio, nothing for entertainment. Well Hisoka had entertainment - he was reading a book.  
  
"What are we to dooooo," Tsuzuki whined, "this is killing me."  
  
"Find a book and read it then."  
  
"That's just booooring," Tsuzuki sighed and gave up. There would be little in the way of electronic entertainment while he was on this assignment he figured.  
  
"I'm going to bed," Tsuzuki, feeling defeated by the apartment's lack of furnishings, said.  
  
He got up out of his chair and walked to bedroom. Hisoka sat in silence for what seemed like a long time, not even reading. In actuality it was only three minutes. Still, without Tsuzuki around, it felt.rather lonesome. Hisoka sat his book down on the table and got up. He had decided he might as well go to bed himself.  
  
Walking into the bedroom, Hisoka noticed that Tsuzuki appeared to be asleep. 'He goes fast,' Hisoka thought as he removed his shirt and jeans then climbed into bed next to the sleeping shinigami.  
  
"That was fast," Tsuzuki said, sleep noticeably in his voice.  
  
Hisoka froze for a moment, then regained himself, "Reading was making me sleepy," he replied matter-of-factly.  
  
Tsuzuki laughed lightly. "Then goodnight again," Tsuzuki said while slipping his hand lightly over Hisoka's waist. Hisoka was near protesting automatically, but he sensed the emotion coming from Tsuzuki: the emotion of a desire to protect.a strong desire. Tsuzuki's thoughts even mirrored this. Hisoka read them as being, 'To provide some type of comfort, to provide some kind of protection.' Hisoka nudged his head into his pillow a little more, now feeling safe and.loved. He liked the feelings, even if it didn't change his exterior too much it did change his interior. 


	4. Beginning of the First Full Day

Melting the Heart - Chapter 4  
  
a.n. I'm still keeping at it *drinks some inspiration, read: Vanilla coke* It's kind of late, and nearing time to go to bed since I have school tomorrow.but I must write *crazed look in eye* So here is chapter 4 ^_^  
  
Hisoka did not have that easy of a sleep. He kept dreaming of Muraki. Muraki killing under the crimson moon. Muraki inscribing his curse upon Hisoka's body. Muraki laughing from the shadows knowing what pain Hisoka was in. Then his parents invaded his dreams. They threw an onslaught of insults at him. Hisoka seemingly couldn't escape the pain at any turn.  
  
The sun streamed through the blinds of the bedroom. It was that, and not the alarm, that woke Hisoka. "Stupid Tsuzuki.he didn't shut the blinds," he grumbled. However, he was slightly grateful to be awake - to be away from his nightmares.  
  
The watch of his on the dresser said it was 7:00; he didn't have to be up for another thirty minutes. Hisoka also noticed that Tsuzuki's arm was still around his waist. He was sure they both had to have moved somewhat during the night, but somehow Tsuzuki's arm was still around him. Waves of comfort flowed over Hisoka. 'Whoever said the little things in life are the important things was right,' he thought.  
  
He quietly and discreetly slipped out from under Tsuzuki's protective arm and went to the bathroom. 'Might as well get ready,' Hisoka mentally grunted. They had to be at the university at 8:00 for introduction.  
  
While Hisoka was still in the bathroom Tsuzuki woke up. He greeted the sun shining down on him with a smile. Something about the sun in its early hours always had an effect on Tsuzuki. The way it was bright and fierce. He always missed it when that fearsomeness would begin to fade after noon as it began to make way for the coming of the moon. Tsuzuki lay in bed noting little things for his amusement: the way the sheets felt on his bare skin, the extra warmth on his face from the sun, the light sound of water coming from the bathroom. 'Hisoka must be in the shower,' he thought. 'I gotta pee,' immediately followed. He rolled out of bed and walked over to the bathroom door, giving it a knock, "Hisooooka, you almost done. I gotta go!!"  
  
Hisoka came out of the bathroom a minute later wrapped in a towel. "Looking good, Hisoka," Tsuzuki commented jokingly.  
  
Hisoka merely glared at him and yelled, "Get in there and take a piss already!"  
  
"Hey," a cheesy grin spread across Tsuzuki's face, "don't be so grumpy," his face grew dark, "or you will regret it," he laughed evilly.  
  
Hisoka paid no attention to the comment and walked over to the closet to get his clothes out. 'How can anyone have so much damn energy in the morning,' Hisoka thought. 'Or did I wake up truly grumpy?'  
  
Tsuzuki watched Hisoka for a brief second and then walked into the bathroom. Hisoka changed into his clothing for the day: a white dress shirt, a tie, and dark dress pants. He had had his back to the bathroom the whole time, and when he turned around he saw the back of Tsuzuki, standing in front of the toilet, still peeing. "Can't you shut the door!!!" Hisoka yelled.  
  
Tsuzuki's head turned around as much as he could manage and he flashed another cheesy grin, "I had go really bad. I must have forgot," he said sheepishly.  
  
"Idiot," Hisoka grumbled as he walked into the kitchen.  
  
Tsuzuki just kind of shook his head, but a grin still lingered on his face. Little things were the building blocks of big things he reasoned, and getting closer to Hisoka little by little would help him in building a large, sturdy relationship with him.however far that might go.  
  
This was the first time any thought about Hisoka had strayed from the boundaries of friendship; it perplexed Tsuzuki slightly. Tsuzuki's thoughts stopped there for the moment, however, as he slipped off his boxers and turned the warm water on. The sprayer gave a stunted squirt and then streamed out water uninterrupted. Tsuzuki raised the hand-held nozzle above his head and let the water wet his hair. He shivered a bit because it was still cold. 'How can Hisoka take cold showers,' he wondered.  
  
Tsuzuki's mind wandered back to the thoughts that had occupied his head seconds ago. 'Hisoka' he thought,'.in that manner?' Tsuzuki put some shampoo in his hands, rubbed them together, then lathered his hair, still deep in thought. 'No' he finally decided. His intentions for opening up Hisoka were for not to get into his pants, but to make him feel he had someone there he could actually depend on for once in his sorrow-stricken life.or existence if one wants to get technical. 'But.if it does go deeper.I wouldn't protest,' a smirk formed across Tsuzuki's face at that last thought.  
  
Tsuzuki raised the hand-held nozzle to his head once again, which this time the water was warm, and washed the shampoo out. He ran the nozzle up and down his body and over his back as best he could, before lathering up a body sponge and covering himself in soap. After rinsing this away, he toweled off and walked back into the bedroom to get dressed. He made sure though that not a trace of his previous thoughts lingered in his memory; those were thoughts that Tsuzuki did not want Hisoka to read.yet.  
  
Hisoka had made more ramen for breakfast. He had already finished his portion, and Tsuzuki's was there on its paper plate, still warm. 'It looked lonely,' Hisoka mused. It was rare that such.silliness crept into his head, but this morning it had done that. He quickly changed gears though and began thinking about the current assignment - all traces of the previous humor gone.  
  
'Assuming Muraki is the one preventing the souls from getting to JuOhCho for judgement, how is he doing it? A person's attachment to this world can cause them to linger on, or appear in JuOhCho somewhat off schedule, but could another person actually keep a soul here against it's will,' Hisoka's brow was knit in concentration. 'If anyone could figure out a way to do it though, Muraki could,' he conceded with a slight shiver. Even the mere thought of Muraki's cruelty was extremely unsettling to him.  
  
Tsuzuki aroused Hisoka from his intense concentration by placing a hand on his somewhat petit shoulder. Hisoka's reaction to automatically pull away was less strong this time. He figured it would become less and less of a reactionary thought the more Tsuzuki did this. 'In his own small way,' Hisoka mentally noted, 'he's breaking down a wall.a very tall and thick wall and he's doing it with somewhat rapid process.'  
  
"gOOd morning," Tsuzuki greeted Hisoka, hand still on his shoulder.  
  
Tsuzuki's eyes wandered over to the uneaten ramen. His stomach lusted for it. "Is that mine," he said pointing in the direction of the ramen.  
  
Hisoka replied flatly, "No. It's Watari's."  
  
"Geh! How could you forget meeee!?"  
  
"Idiot. I was being sarcastic." A slight smile crept its way onto Hisoka's face - but just for a second.  
  
Tsuzuki, thoroughly happy at the revelation, took his place across Hisoka. "Ittadakimaaaasu," he said cheerily before seriously ravaging them. The slight fear that he might choke even passed through Hisoka as he witnessed Tsuzuki's assault on the noodles.  
  
After finishing his breakfast, Tsuzuki patted his stomach with contentment. It was then Hisoka noticed that Tsuzuki was wearing a regular shirt and lounge pants. "Tsuzuki," Hisoka began, his voice a quiet rage, "why are you NOT in something more PROFESSIONAL?!"  
  
Tsuzuki scratched his head and then remembered that they were to be at Kyushu University at 8:00 for introduction. "Eck! I'm sorry. I forgot about it," Tsuzuki said apologetically and ran back into the bedroom to change.  
  
Hisoka got up after him and stood, propping himself up on the doorway, watching Tsuzuki rush to put on more proper clothing. A few minutes later Tsuzuki ran past him, now properly dressed, and stood at the door motioning for Hisoka to hurry up much to the younger boy's annoyance. With that, they set off towards their first day at Kyushu University and the first full day on the case of the missing souls. The time was 7:55.  
  
SPECIAL: The Layout of Tsuzuki and Hisoka's Apartment for this Mission. Eh.because I had this weird idea to describe to all those who read this, the layout of the apartment here it is. When one first walks in there is the living room area. Then after a ways, there is a step that leads to the kitchen. So in a sense, the living room and kitchen are only separated by a single step. The kitchen is wide with a counter all the way a around, a sink (which there is a window above), stove, and table with chairs. Cabinets are, acourse, also there. Then to the right of the kitchen there is the entrance to the bedroom, no door or anything. The bedroom is pretty spacious with two large windows on the left wall. There is a large bed in the center with little tables to serve as nightstands on both sides. There is also a wardrobe. On the right side of the room is the entrance to the bathroom which does have a door *lol* The bathroom is a typical Japanese one with a ceramic floor, stool, toilet, sink, and the shower nozzle in hand form. Also there is small, but deep tub for soaking. And that concludes the Layout of Tsuzuki and Hisoka's Apartment for this Mission special XD  
  
A.N: Chapter 4 Dekimashita~! XD I tried to be accurate with the whole Japanese bathroom thing. That's how I understand their workings anyway based on pictures and anime etc ^^; So if it is incorrect I'm sorry and correction would be greatly appreciated. And that's really all I have to say on this chapter. I did my best to bite my urge to create the whole "A walks in on B while taking a shower and asks to wash back" cliché. I fought the urge!! LOL ^^;; Demo, I hope the story is enjoyable thus far. Ja! 


	5. At the University

Melting the Heart - Chapter 5  
  
Hisoka and Tsuzuki arrived at the Medical Campus right at 8:00. The met with the director and were introduced to the rest of the staff and their respective assistants. Based on the information Konoe had faxed to the university prior to their arrival, they were placed in the department dealing with mental health. Hisoka couldn't get over the irony of Tsuzuki having a position of prominence concerning mental health. 'Deep thinking Tsuzuki.didn't happen often' he thought. 'Oh well' Hisoka sighed. He figured he be the backbone of the whole assignment anyway - the one that actually dispensed the medical knowledge. If it hadn't been for how young he looked, he knew Konoe would probably have assigned him the role of doctor and Tsuzuki assistant.  
  
"This will be your office. There is your desk along with your assistant's," the director pointed to the two cherry oak desks outfitted with flat-screen computers. The carpet on the floor was plush and had one large, central design on it. There was also a nicely sized window that let the sun in. Tsuzuki liked feeling high up. It was a lot better than his cubicle back at ShoKouCho. Lack of a raise or promotion weighed heavily upon him when he saw his new temporary office. 'It's been so long since my last raise,' he mentally sobbed.  
  
"The computers are for whatever you need them for, but only use them for leisure activities on your time, not the University's time, please. I hope everything else is to your liking. We pride ourselves in having comfortable work environments," the director said smiling.  
  
"It's very nice," Tsuzuki replied, returning the smile.  
  
"Well that's all for now. Please have a good rest of the day," and with that the director left the office leaving Tsuzuki and Hisoka to themselves. As soon as the director had left, Tsuzuki noticed that Hisoka was already pounding away on the keyboard pulling up information on the deceased students. Tsuzuki leaned over Hisoka's back, "Woooow! You're amazing," he exclaimed as Hisoka kept pulling up window after window containing the student's information.  
  
In all Hisoka had pulled up 20 windows, each containing individual information on all of the deceased students. Hisoka was grateful that the information was still in the university's database; he had previously feared that it might have been deleted upon their deaths. Hisoka inserted a nearby blank disk into the computer and began to download the information just in case such a thing was to happen.  
  
"I truly think Muraki has something to do with this," Hisoka said after the information had finished downloading to the disk. Tsuzuki was busy blasting alien warships on his computer. He loved the university's hispeed connections.  
  
Hisoka got up from his chair and thwacked Tsuzuki on his head. "Pay attention!" Hisoka scolded. Tsuzuki rubbed his head gingerly. "So what's the connection," he asked.  
  
"They were all medical students," Hisoka said simply, "they also all died within the same two months."  
  
Tsuzuki thought this information over for a minute and then asked, "So you think because they were all medical students, Muraki has his hands in this? Also, were they killed here, at the university, or at a different spot?"  
  
Hisoka was a bit surprised by Tsuzuki's actually logical question; however, he thought that he shouldn't be since Tsuzuki did have that quality to be serious and logical when it need be. "I don't know," Hisoka replied. "I will check in with Konoe on that later."  
  
There was a knock at the door. A young woman walked in. "Dr. Tsuzuki, there is a patient to see you."  
  
"Bring the person in," Tsuzuki said, using a very official tone of voice.  
  
A young medical student stepped into the office and laid down on the reclining couch used for patients. She was obviously sleep deprived.  
  
Tsuzuki rolled over in his chair to the young woman, while Hisoka stayed behind his desk, computer program opened and ready to record her session.  
  
"What's your name, miss," Tsuzuki began.  
  
"Watanabe Hanako."  
  
"And what has been troubling you?"  
  
"I can't sleep," she began, "my dreams are troubling. I never remember them, but they are troubling. They pull at me and leave me with such a fear in my heart - I'm afraid to sleep."  
  
"You can remember nothing about them?"  
  
Hanako thought for a moment and then answered, "A crimson moon. I remember a crimson moon." This sent a shock wave through Hisoka. Tsuzuki just nodded.  
  
"Kurosaki," he directed to Hisoka, "do you have any suggestions on good relaxants that will induce sleep?" Tsuzuki had no clue what to prescribe the woman.  
  
"I recommend Ambiex Lictrate. It will relax her into a gentle sleep."  
  
"Very well," Tsuzuki said as he began to write down the prescription for her. He also handed her a small fuda, "A little good luck never hurts either," he said with a cheery smile. The young woman smiled back, thanked them both, and left.  
  
"A crimson moon.," Tsuzuki pondered aloud.  
  
"Looks like it is Muraki," Hisoka pointed out grimly, almost sadly. "By the way, what was that fuda you gave her," he asked.  
  
"It was a powerful one to help protect her mind from the fear that whoever is causing her to have."  
  
"If Muraki is causing this, could he actually figure out a way to trap souls in such a manner," Hisoka directed the question towards Tsuzuki.  
  
"Well if he's manipulating them with fear from the inside and killing them off that way, killing them mentally, it's likely he could find a way to somehow get the soul of the person, after death acourse, and prevent it from entering Meifu. Although, I don't think he could steal it in such a way we couldn't get it back.at least I hope he can't do such a thing."  
  
Hisoka shuddered at the thought again. The idea that Muraki could hold souls hostage and possibly steal them.it was mind-boggling. He hoped to heaven that it wasn't true.  
  
So their first day continued, more or less, without any more cases resembling that of Watanabe Hanako's, although it was still a very busy day. People coping with phobias, emotional problems, counseling on domestic problems, they all came to the office that day.  
  
Finally, 5:00 p.m. came, and Tsuzuki and Hisoka saw the last patient out and then began to close everything down. Hisoka checked both computers making sure all the information for the day was recorded accurately, set up a system of passwords for both computers, and grabbed the student information he had downloaded earlier. Tsuzuki closed the blinds on the window and they made their way out of the office, Hisoka locking the door behind them.  
  
"It's good to be home," Tsuzuki said, childish happiness permeating his voice as he opened the door to their apartment and dashed to the bedroom, "flopping" on the bed, "Work was difficult!"  
  
"And how was that? I did all the diagnosis, I prescribed the correct medications - " Tsuzuki interrupted him saying, "Yes, but I had to pretend to know what I was doing! It was taxing," Tsuzuki said, looking quite sheepish.  
  
'I suppose."  
  
Hisoka laid down beside Tsuzuki - tired himself. He wanted to go over the assignment more. The very thought that Muraki was around and almost surely involved in the recent chain of events plagued him. It would not let his mind rest. Sleep, however, won out in the end. It had been exhausting for him after all and what could a little nap hurt?  
  
Hisoka woke, glancing immediately at his wristwatch, noting the time as 7:00 p.m. He had slept for nearly two hours. There was also the smell in the air that something had been cooking. A silent prayer went out to almost everything he held holy that Tsuzuki hadn't taken the initiative to cook.  
  
Getting up cautiously from the bed he looked at the kitchen table through the doorway, but saw there was nothing on it. Thankful, Hisoka rose fully from the bed and made his way into the kitchen. "Noooooooo," he screamed mentally. Tsuzuki had taken the initiative to cook dinner; he had just sat it on the counter, a place where Hisoka could not have spotted it from the bed, instead of the table. "This is the last time I fall asleep before cooking," he grumbled slightly under his breath. The thought then hit him, 'Where is Tsuzuki?' It had not occurred to him that Tsuzuki was not there. He became frantic for a moment, both visibly and mentally, but then regained his composure.  
  
"First things first," he said to himself, "see if there is a note anywhere. He could have gone out." Hisoka walked around the kitchen looking for anything that might be scribbled with the quick message that Tsuzuki had gone somewhere. There was nothing.  
  
"Okay, action two. Check the apartment." Hisoka glanced over into the living room, but acourse there was no Tsuzuki. There was also no Tsuzuki in the kitchen. He was also sure there was no Tsuzuki in the bedroom but he walked back in there anyway. Nope. There was no Tsuzuki anywhere in the bedroom.  
  
Hisoka stood in the bedroom, dumbfounded. However, during this period of silence he heard a faint whistling sound. It was some current song that was being played a lot on the radio. He glanced over and noticed the bathroom door was shut. He felt stupid suddenly for worrying. There should have been no need for worry. 'Tsuzuki's cooking must have caught up to him,' he remarked mentally, quietly laughing a little at the cruel joke. Just to make sure though, Hisoka walked over to the bathroom door and knocked, calling to see if Tsuzuki was in there.  
  
"Yeaaah! Be out in a second," Tsuzuki yelled back to Hisoka. He walked back over to the bed and sat on it.  
  
Tsuzuki came out of the bathroom a few seconds later, and greeted Hisoka with playful grin. "Good evening! You ready to eat dinner? I made it!!" Tsuzuki said proudly.  
  
".Eh..yeah," was all Hisoka could get out.  
  
"Well then lets go into the kitchen and eat! Well you can eat, I've already had my share," Tsuzuki babbled on as he extended his hand to the still sitting Hisoka, who hesitated a moment before accepting the gesture. Grabbing his hand, he noted how soft it was; Tsuzuki had a really nice touch he decided a second before Tsuzuki yanked him to his feet. Hisoka followed Tsuzuki, silently praying, into the kitchen.  
  
A.N.: Gomen. This isn't one of my better chapters. I blame it on the medical thing. I want to keep with it, but it's the first medical type thing I've written. So it's sub-par. Please don't let this slightly bad chapter deter reading though ^^;;; I will work harder to make chapter 6 better AND to begin wrapping everything up ^^ Thank you everyone who has read so far and for the encouraging reviews I have gotten ^_^ 


	6. Discovery

Melting the Heart - Chapter 6  
  
The room was dark with a cold metal stretcher sitting in the middle. On top of it was a body, freshly dead. Near the stretcher sat two cans - one had a dark, reddish liquid in it the other had a black liquid in it. Beside the cans was an assortment of paintbrushes.  
  
Two pale hands reached out from the dark and gently caressed the body. Then one of the hands picked up a paintbrush, dipped it in the dark, reddish liquid and began to write on the body.  
  
***  
  
Hisoka sat and stared at the food in front of him. It looked.odd. He slowly picked up a small bite of noodles with his chopsticks and put them in his mouth. After chewing for a bit he decided they were going to be edible. Maybe not grade A noodles, but they weren't so bad that they couldn't be eaten. Hisoka flashed a smile at an expectant Tsuzuki who excepted it in his usual 'you-like-it-you-really-like-it' way.  
  
After finishing dinner Hisoka threw the paper plates away and washed the pots. Tsuzuki sat at the table being bored. There just seemed to be nothing to do.  
  
Hisoka had finished the dishes and walked into the bedroom. He returned carrying a book on various occult topics. It was a rather thick book that contained a lot of various information on Eastern and Western occult practices, from banned Shinto and Buddhist rituals to Egyptian curses to some dark pagan practices from Europe. Hisoka sat the book on the kitchen table and opened it to a spot he had been reading from earlier concerning a type of dark Egyptian curse. He had only read the opening paragraph to it thus far and all that concerned was how a name of a person could be used against them. However, as he read on he learned exactly in what way the name was used and what it did to the person.  
  
Soon after death, no longer than one day, the body of the deceased was taken and his name was written upon the full of the front part of the body and the full of the back part in the blood of the person mixed with a dark pigment. Then, in black, around the name was drawn a seal containing the six secret names of the god of chaos. If all was completed successfully, the soul of the deceased was doomed to be trapped within that body forever unless the body was burned. Only through burning the body would the soul be released.  
  
Hisoka was horrified at this revelation, yet glad he had found what seemed to be a lead to finding out what was keeping the souls from entering Meifu.  
  
"Look at this," Hisoka said, waking Tsuzuki from his bored stupor, "I think I found something that may be helpful." He got out of his seat and walked around the table with the book to point the passage out to Tsuzuki.  
  
"See this passage, what is says about how some in ancient Egypt would seal a soul inside its body?"  
  
Tsuzuki read over the passage. It disturbed him greatly. Tsuzuki sighed in dismay at the idea that it was possible to keep the soul sealed in the body.  
  
"I see.Then it really does look like Muraki is up to this. Very few on this earth would believe something like this and fewer still would attempt it. Unfortunately, Muraki falls into both categories. Tomorrow we should begin look around campus for any ideas to where Muraki is and expand from there." Tsuzuki sighed again.  
  
"I agree. Hopefully we will find something soon. I want to get this over with. I hate dealing with Muraki," Hisoka said, raising his voice on the last sentence. Tsuzuki looked at him in concern. He had seen little emotion one way or the other from Hisoka concerning this case until now. He really felt sympathy for him.  
  
Hisoka looked over at Tsuzuki, "I appreciate your sympathy, but save it," he said.  
  
Tsuzuki blinked. He had forgotten all about attempting to conceal his thoughts and emotions. "Well.," Tsuzuki began, "what emotion do you want me to emit for you to catch hold of?"  
  
Hisoka blinked; the question had caught him a bit off guard. Love is the emotion he would have liked to feel, but he felt too awkward voicing that to Tsuzuki. Instead Hisoka just turned around and walked off to the bedroom.  
  
"You didn't answer me," Tsuzuki said, raising his voice to be heard, "now what emotion do you want to feel?" There was still no reply from Hisoka who had now laid himself across the bed. Tsuzuki got up from the table and made his way to where Hisoka was.  
  
He too laid himself across the bed, facing Hisoka. "I'll guess then," he playfully announced. Hisoka still wore a look of indifference.  
  
A smile played across Tsuzuki's face as looked straight into Hisoka's emerald eyes. He intensified his feelings of love. Hisoka's look of indifference changed to one of content. He surprised Tsuzuki by scooting closer to him and putting an arm around him. Tsuzuki responded by also placing his arm around Hisoka and giving him a gentle, loving tug towards himself.  
  
Hisoka gave no resistance and they both laid like that for nearly half an hour, Tsuzuki rubbing Hisoka's back every so often. It was Hisoka who broke the semi-embrace, much to Tsuzuki's disappointment; he had been prepared to lie there for eternity if Hisoka had wanted it.  
  
Hisoka rose from the bed and walked to the bathroom. Tsuzuki sat up himself and watched Hisoka from the bed as he washed his face. Hisoka patted his face dry and walked back to where Tsuzuki was and just stood there in front of him for a few seconds. "Thank you," he said finally and then made his way to his side of the bed.  
  
He slipped off his shirt, pants, and socks and crawled into bed. Tsuzuki got up, switched the kitchen light and bedroom light off and returned to bed. He too got out of everything except his boxers and slipped in next to Hisoka.  
  
Tsuzuki was surprised a bit when Hisoka scooted in a bit closer to him. Tsuzuki remembered telling himself that he wouldn't seek Hisoka in such a way, but he couldn't help falling for the blonde. It was odd that it seemed to dawn on him so quickly, to just pop up like 'that'. 'But maybe' he thought, 'it has always been there and recent events just make me realize it all the more.'  
  
Hisoka stirred a bit, then said, in a small whisper, "You can seek me in 'such a way.'"  
  
Hisoka just kept on surprising him tonight. "Are.you sure," Tsuzuki asked, believing it all to be going too smoothly.  
  
"Don't doubt me," came Hisoka's cool reply. Hisoka's back had been turned to Tsuzuki all this time and now he turned and faced Tsuzuki. He looked straight into Tsuzuki's violet eyes, which were illuminated by the light from the city streaming in through the window. Hisoka gave Tsuzuki a light kiss on the lips, an enticing brush. Tsuzuki pulled Hisoka closer to himself and entangled their legs together. He then put a finger under Hisoka's chin, raising it up a little and gave Hisoka a kiss of his own. It was Hisoka's first kiss ever received with any pure love behind it; it warmed his heart.  
  
"I'll get more passionate another night," Tsuzuki smirked before drifting off into sleep, quite content with everything that had unfolded in such a seemingly short time. Hisoka soon followed Tsuzuki in sleep, tinges of a smile upon his face.  
  
  
  
A.N. Chapter 6 is finally done ^_^ I hope it was enjoyable and that getting Hisoka and Tsuzuki together didn't seem too rushed. I hope it felt natural even if it did kind of all come together in one night ^^;;; And now I'm going off to get some sleep. I'm literally lying in front of the laptop typing with my eyes closed I'm so sleepy ^^;;; G'night. Now off to start chapter 7..after I wake up XD 


End file.
